Today was busy. These kids have started to figure out a lot about being part of a community. They are playing with different groups of kids, solving problems, trying new things, and including others. It was a loud day, but everyone was doing what they should be. Many kids were helping others clean-up – just because!

At the art table, we were using bingo bottles with liquid water color to paint. They allow for dots - which a few kids chose to attempt, writing - similar to felt pens but messier, and then the age old soak the paper with as much liquid as possible and see what happens – the favorite choice! You have an example of your child’s use on the invitation envelope.

All of the “Our Community” books are finished up and we will create a cover on Monday so the we will be ready for the Authors’ Tea on Friday at noon. The final part to our community theme is information regarding those in our community without a home. We read “His Name Is Joe”, a boy’s story about a homeless man he gets to know while helping in a café based on Sisters’ of the Road from downtown Portland. We didn’t have time to talk about what the kids could do to help, but we will continue the conversation on Monday.

We worked with finger paint today. I like to have the kids mess with the paint on a tray and then take an image by placing a piece of paper on the top and rubbing the back for a print. This is an easier clean-up and saves on paint.

At first circle, we talked about roots again, this time discussing what they do for the plant. We were able to look at the roots of several plants that I have in jars of water. We theorized about whether or not an old carrot would be able to grow in just water like the plants. The class was mostly mixed so they decided on maybe as the answer (already politicians!) To test our theory, we put an older carrot that still had some stems and leaves into a test tube with water so we can observe what happens. What do you think will happen?